Juan Mata unsure where he'll play next season

[p]The Spanish World Cup winner his lit up the competition in his second season in Australia, recording 13 assists - most of them in the second half of the campaign - to currently have the second-most assists in a single A-League season behind Australia's now retired 'Pasty Pirlo', [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mooy-aaron/hrDsuu5t/"]Aaron Mooy[/a] (21 in 2015/16). [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mata-juan/nHlv2UfS/"]Mata[/a] moved from Western Sydney to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-victory/Qql6CzOP/"]Melbourne Victory[/a] at the start of 2025/26 following a commitment from manager Arthur Diles that he would be used as a leading and starting central midfielder following some brief and ineffective bench cameos at former club [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/western-sydney-wanderers/l00pXxBN/"]Western Sydney Wanderers[/a].[/p][p]The 38-year-old has repaid Diles not only with his five goals and 13 assists but a lasting endurance befitting of a player ten years his junior.[/p][p]Mata told AAP on Friday that he hasn't given any consideration to his future beyond the Victory's finals campaign, which begins this Saturday with an elimination final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sydney-fc/6JsBlXVI/"]Sydney FC[/a] at AAMI Park.[/p][p]"[b]To be honest, I haven't put my mind into[/b] (contract discussions)," Mata said. [/p][p]"I want to finish the finals - hopefully it's going to be good for us - and then take some time to make a decision with myself, with my family, and put everything in the balance. [/p][p]"[b]What I can say is that up until now, I have enjoyed this season. I have enjoyed on the pitch, off the pitch, in the training ground, the culture and the environment in the club. So I haven't made a decision yet. I will do it after.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="42c10323-e0c2-4969-926a-3a65217a0efe" url="https://x.com/aleaguemen/status/2030546944830111909" social-type="twitter" /][p]Mata has more often than not ran out the full 90 minutes with impressive energy, with only five other Victory players - three of them defenders - playing more minutes this season than Mata's 1,691.[/p][p]That's even despite a couple of bench appearances early in the season and two weeks missed with an elbow fracture on the eve of the finals. [/p][p]He said he has not given any thought to the potential of bowing out from football a Championship winner in Australia.[/p][p]"[b]I mean, I'm dreaming now, but if we go through and then we win the whole thing, it's gonna be an amazing feeling,[/b]" Mata said.[/p][p]"I don't know how I'll feel there in terms of keep going, or is it very nice and the ... I don't really know. [/p][p][b]"I will make a decision after and I don't want to make it straight after the elimination or the final. I want to take some time and then see how much I enjoy playing football. That's the main thing. And then the rest can come after.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="e3476a0d-ec60-4893-881d-6cf1ce5be3b8" url="https://x.com/aleaguemen/status/2035083964931875217" social-type="twitter" /][p]Mata has spoken endearingly of the Melbourne lifestyle throughout his year in Victoria, from its thriving sport and arts scene to its cosmopolitan food and drink culture, and has also kept an open mind to a post-playing life in Australia and potentially even becoming an investor in the Victory, injecting some much needed finances into Australian football.[/p][p]"[b]Yeah, it's something that I'm still open to do, to have conversations,[/b]" he told AAP.[/p][p]"And yeah, why not? If I believe in something, I think it's nice to be involved somehow in it, if you can provide something or you can bring something different to the table.[/p][p]"[b]So I'm open to it[/b]."[/p][embed guid="547901a7-841c-40cd-8358-014394e1018a" url="https://x.com/aleaguemen/status/2033127219925758464" social-type="twitter" /][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/melbourne-victory-Qql6CzOP/sydney-fc-6JsBlXVI/?mid=SpEwrzJb"]Melbourne Victory host Sydney FC in the A-League's second elimination final at 7:40pm AEST on Saturday.[/a][/h2]